Sewing machine



Feb. 7, 1933. R 'B. WOODCOCK SEWING MACHINE Filed June 16. 1931 Patented Feb. .7, 1933 U ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE REGINALIO BOYD 'WOODCOCK, LEICESTER, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON,.NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATIONOF NEW JERSEY SEWING MACHINE Application filed .Tune 16, 1931, Serial No. 544,796, and in Great Britain July 24, 1930.

This invention relatestoboot or shoe sewing machines and is particularly, but by no means exclusively concerned with making provision in curved hooked-needle outsole stitching machines for sewing the seam, at the will of the operator, at different set distances from the edge of the last bottom in cases where the sole edge does not lend itself well for use in guiding the Work past the sewing point.

For instance, in sewing, in the case of stitchdown shoes or veldtschoen, the outturned flange of upper to the sole margin it is sometimes; desired to effect this by two lines of stitching aroundthe shoe at a small uniform distance apart widthwise of the sole margin and in such a case the sole edge does not afford an altogether reliable guide face on the work as excess of upper material projects irregularly beyond the sole margin and would be apt to become turned up between the sole edge and any sole edge guide.

One of the several features of the present invention resides in the provision in a curved hooked-needle outsole stltchmg machine of two alternative work-guiding members each adapted inguiding the work toenter the angle between theside oftheupper of ashoe and a projecting margin of the shoe sole, one of said members being movable, at the will of the operator by :a sliding andswinging movement from a lowered and retracted in operative position toa raised and advanced.

operative position in which it masks the other member and by its then projection forwardly of the other member can take over the guiding of the work and determine that theseam shall be sewn nearer the sole edge so-that the operator may sew all rounda shoe withthe seam at a certain distance from the edge of the bottom of a last in the shoe and may; then, by bringing the said -mo-vable member into operative position, continue sewing to sew once more round the shoeproducing thereon a second seam slightly nearer the sole-edge.

The various objects "and the above and other features of thepresent invention will become apparent from the following description, 'ivenby way of example and .with reference to the ,accompanyingdrawing, of a preferred construction of work guiding mechanism according to the invention.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a front elevationpartly in .section of the said preferred construction of work guiding mechanism and parts of a boot or shoe sewing machine;

Figure 2 is a left hand side elevation 0 said construction and sewing machine parts;

Figure 3 is a side view of certain parts seen in Figure 1 viewed in the direction of the arrow in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 in Figure 1; and

Figure 5 is a plan view ofa work support and guide shown in Figures 1 and 2.

The said preferred construction of work guiding mechanism will be described as being applied to a machine of the general character described in the U. S. Patentto French and Meyer, No. 473,870, granted April 26, 1892, and U. S. Patent to Bates, No.- 1,198,405 granted September-l9, 1916.

The said work guiding mechanism comprises a guide formed as ametal bar 1 about three-eighths of an inch wide and about one eighth of an inch thick. -When in its raised operative position the upper or work guiding end of the bar is close in front of the usual'work support 3 of the machine, which support, when the bar 1 is in itslowered inoperative position, acts as a work guide as well as a support, and its upper right-hand end is curved slightly round the right hand end of the work support 3 when viewing the machine from the front as shown in Figure 5. The upper edge of the bar 1 when .in its raised position is level with the upper face of the work support 3 and from its upper edge the bar slopes downwardly towards the right atan angle of about thirtydegrees to the vertical when viewed from the front. Also when in this operative position the bar 1 slopes downwardly and backwardly into themachine at an angle of about ten-degrees to the vertical. Its upper edge is about onesixteenth of an inch thick, its thickness dependingupon thedesired distance apart of thelines of stitching, and its rear face is as close as possible to the awl carrying segment when the awl shown at 4 is protruding through the work. The backward slope of the bar 1 provides for clearance for the work and the sidewise inclination pemits the bar to be kept close into the machine while at the same time permitting the usual looper 5 to make its customary movements to lay the thread within the barb of a needle 6, the looper 5 passing close to the left hand edge of the bar 1 and just behind the barin its loopin movement.

he bar 1 is fixed to the front face of a dovetailed block 7 which is slidingly mounted in a dovetailed guideway formed in a pivoted block 9, the guideway extending upwardly and downwardly at an angle of about thirty degrees to the vertical viewing it from the front of the machine. The block 7 has pivotally connected to its lower end at 10 the upper end of a link 11 also arranged at about thirty degrees to the vertical, viewed from the front, and the lower end of the link 11 is pivotally connected at 12 to a forked member 14 rotatably mounted on one arm 15 of a lever 16 which is pivoted on a stud 13 fixed in a part 27 of the machine frame. The pivotal connection 12 and the rotatable connection of the forked member 1 1 with the arm 15 of the lever 16 forms a universal joint which permits the block 7 to be reciprocated through the link 11 by the oscillation of the lever 16 about the pivot stud 13. The other arm 17 of the lever 16 has formed on it a flange 39 and is bored to receive a ball 19, the diameter of which is somewhat greater than the thickness of the arm. Also pivoted on the stud 13 is a hand-lever 31 and the handlever and arm 17 are pressedtogether and against a plate 25 fixed to the frame part 27, by a spring washer 33 and a nut 31 threaded on the stud 13. The plate 25 has in ita recess 21 and the hand-lever 31 also has in it a similar recess 23 which is slightly deeper than the recess 21. When the ball 19 is in the recess'21 in the plate 25 and the guide bar 1 is in its raised operative position the ball projects slightly through the arm 17 and 1S held in the recess by the pressure of the handlever 31 against it under the influence of the spring washer 33 and the ball prevents move ment of the lever 16 and locks the guide bar 1 in its operative position. When the handlever is moved upwardly it at first moves relatively to the arm 17, since the arm is held. by the ball, until a face 29 on the hand-lever engages the stop flange 39 on the arm 17 at which time the recess 23 is in line with the ball and continued upward movement of the hand-lever moves the arm 17 with it, the ball then moving out of the recess 21 and into the recess 23. The hand-lever 31 is moved up until the arm 17 engages a stop flange 35 on the plate 25 in which position of the handlever the guide bar 1 is in its inoperative position and is held in this position by the friction between the parts due to the spring washer 33. During downward movement of the hand-lever 31 the hand-lever and arm 17 at first move together until the arm 17 engages a stop flange 37 on the plate 25 and the ball 19 is in alignment with the recess 21 in the plate 25. Continued downward movement of the hand lever 31 until it engages the flange 37 forces the ball 19 into the recess 21 and locks the arm 17 against upward movement and the guide bar 1 in operative position. The pivot shown at 41 of the pivoted block 9 (which latter is pivoted on a bracket 43 on the frame member 27) and the pivot 10 at the upper end of the link 11 extend across the machine at right angles to the dovetailed guideway, as shown in Figure 1, and the pivot 12 of the lowerend of the link 11 is parallel to the pivot 13 of the lever 16 there being suflicient clearance between the upper link pivot 10 and link 11 to allow of any slight tipping of the link axially of the upper pivot due to movement of the lever 16. The pivot 10 connecting the dovetailed block 7 and the link 11 is extended at one end into a cam groove 45 formed in a cam block. 47 fastened to the bracket 43. The cam 45 causes the pivoted block 9 to tip on its pivot 41 when the hand lever 31 is operated and the dovetailed block 7 is raised or lowered, the upper end of the guide bar 1 being thus caused to move downwardly and sideways and to be tipped rearwardly in being moved from its position in front of the work support to an inoperative position (dot-dash outline, Fig. 3) where its upper edge is about seven-eighths of an inch below the upper face of the work support and its front face, at its upper end, is about half an inch behind the front face of the work support. When the guide is in its lower inoperative position its upper right-hand corner is about half an inch to the right of the right-hand end of the work support.

The combined tipping and angular sliding movements of the guide bar allow the bar and associated parts to be positioned well back in the machine so as to give adequate clearance for the work when the guide bar is in its inoperative position and allow the guide bar to be moved into its operative position without fouling the operative parts of the machine.

The nature and scope of the invention having been indicated, and a construction embodying the several features of the invention having been specifically described, what is claimed is:

1. An outsole shoe sewing machine having, in combination with the stitch forming devices, a work support arranged to guide the shoe along the angle between the side of the upper and the rojecting margin of the shoe sole, an auxiliary guide member also arranged to guide the shoe along the angle berseeai 1.-

tween the side of the upper and the projecting margin of the shoe sole mounted in the machine and movable from an operative position in front of the work support to a lowered position below the work support and a lever and suitable connections for moving the auxiliary guide.

2. An outsole shoe sewing machine having, in combination with the stitch forming devices, a work support arranged to guide the shoe along the angle between the side of the upper and the projecting margin of the shoe sole, an auxiliary guide member also arranged to guide the shoe along the angle between the side of the upper and the projecting margin of the shoe sole movable from an operative position in front of the work support to a lowered position below the work support, and means comprising an oblique slide for supporting and directing the movement of the guide member downwardly and backwardly'from operative position at the front of the machine.

8. An outsole shoe sewing machine having, in combination with the stitch forming devices, a work support arranged to guide the shoe along the angle between the side of the upper and the projecting margin of the shoe sole, an auxiliary guide member movable from an operative position in front of the work support to a lowered position below the work support, and means comprising an oblique slide inclined at an angle with the vertical, to the rear and to one side of the machine for supporting and directing the movement of the guide member.

4. An outsole shoe sewing machine having, in combination with the stitch forming devices, a work support arranged to guide a shoe along the angle between the side of the upper and the projecting margin of the shoe sole, an auxiliary guide member also arranged to guide the shoe along the angle between the side of the upper and the projecting margin of the shoe sole, and means for supporting and actuating said member to cause it to move from an operative position in front of the work support downwardly and rearwardly to an inoperative position below the work support.

5. An outsole shoe sewing machine hav ing, in combination with the stitch forming devices, a work support arranged to guide a shoe along the angle between the side of the upper and the projecting margin of the shoe sole, an auxiliary guide member also arranged to guide the shoe along the angle between the side of the upper and the projecting margin of the shoe sole, and means for supporting and actuating said member to cause it to move from an operative position in front of the work support downwardly, sidewise and rearwardly to an inoperative position below the work support.

6. An outsole shoe sewing machine having," in combination with the stitch forming devices, a work supportarranged to. guide a shoe along the angle between the side of the upper and the projecting margin of the shoe sole-,an auxiliary guide member, a; slide carrying said member, operating during its slid-ing movement to move said" member from a position in front of the work support toa lowered position, and a guide block in which the slide is mounted, pivotalily supported: to swing with the slide to carry the member rearwardly to a position below the work support;

7. An outsole shoe sewing machine hav ing, in: combination with the stitch forming devices, a work support arranged to guide a: shoe along the angle between: the side of the upper and the projecting margin of the shoe sole, an auxiliary guide member, a slide carrying said member, operating during its sliding movement to move said member from a position in front of the work support to a lowered position, a pivotally supported guide block in which the slide is mounted, and a pin and cam groove connection between the slide and the machine frame for swinging the guide block with the slide to carry the guide member rearwardly to a position below the work support.

.8. An outsole shoe sewing machine having, in combination with the stitch forming devices, a work support arranged to guide a shoe along the angle between the side of the upper and the projecting margin of the shoe sole, an auxiliary guide member, a slide carrying said member, operating during its sliding movement to move said member downwardly and sidewise from a position in front of the work support to a lowered position, a pivotally supported guide block in which the slide is mounted, and means for swinging the guide block with the slide to carry the guide member rearwardly to a position below the worksupport.

9. An outsole shoe sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming devices, a work support arranged to guide the shoe along the angle between the side of the upper and the projecting margin of the shoe sole, an auxiliary guide member also arranged to guide the shoe along the angle between the side of the upper and the projecting margin of the shoe sole mounted on the machine and movable from an operative position in front of the work support to a lowered position below the work support, and means acting through a continuous movement for raising and locking the guide member in operative position against downward pressure of the work upon it.

10. An outsole shoe sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming devices, a work support arranged to guide the shoe along the angle between the side of the upper and the projecting margin of the shoe sole, an auxiliary guide member mounted on the machine and movable from an operative position in front of the Work support to a lowered position, and means for actuating 5 said guide comprising an arm and suitable connections to the guide, a hand lever movable independently of the arm at one side of the arm, a fixed plate over Which the arm moves at the other side of the arm, a coupling device mounted in an opening in the arm, and recesses in the hand lever and fixed plate to receive alternately the coupling device as the hand lever is moved in opposite directions. In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

REGINALD BOYD WOODCOCK. 

